Under cabinet range hood installation often require complex installation including fitting of the specific range hood to the underside of the cabinet; preparing mounting locations on the cabinet for fasteners; aligning and connecting ducting to the hood; and electrically connecting the hood to the building wiring. The fitting of range hoods to specific cabinets and the multi-step alignment and installation process presents numerous challenges for manufacturers and installers.
The initial difficulty is fitting the range hood to the particular dimensions and construction of the particular cabinet. While range hood dimensions and construction are standardized for large scale manufacturing purposes, cabinet dimensions and construction are typically not standardized. The range hood to be installed must account for different cabinet depths, which are commonly 12 or 15 inches deep. Similarly, range hoods must be mountable to the underside of cabinets, which can have different constructions and shapes. The underside of cabinets are typically of a “European” frameless construction or a “framed” construction having a recessed bottom panel. For a framed cabinet, shims or blocks must be positioned within the recess to provide a flush mounting surface for the range hood. As the depth of the recessed panel can be non-standard or non-uniform, the process of manufacturing the flush mounting surface can be time consuming and require additional materials that the installer may not have on-hand.
In addition to fitting the range hood with the dimensions and construction of the particular cabinet, the range hood must be properly aligned with the mounting features on the cabinet. The mounting features must be attached to the cabinet in proper positions to align with corresponding features on the range hood. Upon fitting the range hood to the cabinet, the mounting feature must be removed and repositioned if the mounting features are found to be in the wrong position. Similarly, the range hood must also be aligned and connect with the ducting, which has limited side-to-side and up-and-down movement for alignment with the ducting. The weight and large dimensions of the range hood can make handling the range hood into engagement with the cabinet and supporting the weight of range hood difficult. Similarly, the range hood must also be supported while the necessary electrical connections are made. In order to safely mount the range hood, two or more people are often required to safely mount the range hood and make the necessary connections as at least one installed must be handling and supporting the range hood throughout the mounting process.
The complexity of attaching the range hood to the cabinet can present numerous challenges for manufacturers and installer, which can make installation difficult